Your PS2 rpgs. RANK THEM.

[Human Snorenado]

It took a little while to get rolling, but the PS2 certainly delivered a lot of quality rpgs by the end of it's life cycle.  Hell, there are still really good jrpgs trickling out on it now. 

So I got to thinking, how would you wankers rank 'em?  My list looks something like this:

Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter
Valkyrie Profile 2: Silmeria
Persona 3: FES

Honorable mention, arpg category:  Tales of the Abyss
Honorable mention, terrible fan service category:  FF X-2
Honorable mention, gaming abortion category:  Xenosaga series

MAF and Himu-chan, where you at?

[MrAngryFace]

Gimme a second here, gotta move to the game cabinet

[hyp]

#1 Shin Megami Digital Devil Saga 1&2

[Greatness Gone]

1. SMT - Nocturne

[jiji]

My favorites (ranking is for dumbs):

BOF:DQ
FFX-2
Romancing SaGa

Masochistic, atmosphere-laden first-person ARPG honorable mention: King's Field: The Ancient City

Those are also the only ones I've actually finished. Sometime I'll get around to knocking off SMT3 and Raidou, and someday I will actually start P3.

[Enl]

Geez, this is gonna be tough to decide on. In no specific order I guess mine are:

Turn Based
Persona 3
SMT-Nocturne
Dragon Quest VIII
Suikoden III

SRPG
Disgaea

ARPG
Ys Ark of Naphistisomethin
Tales of the Abyss
Valkerie Profile 2


I know I'm forgetting some. I didn't realize how few SRPG's I've played for the system.

[MrAngryFace]

Including Strat RPGs, excluding Action RPGs-- *I only have the original disgaea on psp so its not in the list

Top Tier-------
Valkyrie Profile 2
Breath of Fire V: Dragon Quarter
Persona 3: FES
Disgaea 2
Makai Kingdom
Radiata Stories
SMT: Nocturne

Middle Tier-----
SMT: Digital Devil Games
.Hack Series
Tales of the Abyss
Suikoden V
Mana Khemia
Grandia Xtreme
Shadow Hearts Covenant
Wild Arms 5

Low Tier------
Wild Arms 3
Suikoden Tactics
Grandia III
Phantom Brave
Front Mission 4

Owned but haven't played Tier----
Soul Nomad
Romancing Saga

RPG I hated the most: Yes, FF12

--------------------------------------------------------------

Radiata Stories if judged from a technical approach probably doesnt fit Top Tier, but the game is so fucking charming and different at times its very hard to not give it credit for that. A parallel would be my opinion of the first .Hack series which is charming less often, and makes you dig deeper for the stuff that has a glint of brilliance.

Digital Devil games was a tough call. I think im just too addicted to the pokemon qualities of Nocturne and the social junk of person 3 grew on me quite a bit thanks to a good bit of humor.

Grandia Xtreme, and Grandia III were a tough choice. A lot about Grandia III got real boring real fast, and while Grandia Xtreme will not win any awards for its story, it WAS always consistant in what it offered. Phantom Brave gets ranked the lowest of all the NIS strat games I own just because I fucking HATE the story. I think some of the choices made in the gameplay were really neat, but the story is MOST of Phantom Brave, and god damn....thats shitty shit.

Both Suikoden Tactics and Front Mission 4 feel soulless to me and while they are technically proficient, I dont know if ill return to them. WA3 and 5 could be switched easily. I love 3 for some reasons, but the rut of dungeon town dungeon town and some of the more obnoxious puzzles and characters drag it down.

[MoxManiac]

I think my top list would look like MAF's, except I didn't like Persona 3, and Radiata was merely okay for me. I'd probably take those two out and put the DDSes in their place.

In order:

VP2
BoF:DQ
SMT DDS
SMT Nocturne
Disgaea 2

I want to say VP2 is my all around favorite, because VP1 is my favorite from the PS1 era, and it'd be cool to have a single series sweep both generations for me, but it's got some tough competition.

[demi]

1-3 - Shadow Hearts

4-5 - Kingdom Hearts

That about wraps it up

[Herr Mafflard]

Never had a ps2. Just a gamecube.  I'm not bitter  .  

My main game machine was a pc. There was always quality games coming out on the pc back then. Not any more though. Now I mainly play on consoles.

PC gaming would be dead now if it weren't for steam, I think. God bless you Valve.

Anyway, sorry for digressing this topic.

[MrAngryFace]

VP2 is pretty fuk amazing

[Human Snorenado]

VP2 is pretty fuk amazing

Yeah, it's pretty fuck awesome.  BoF DQ edges it just slightly tho.  The battle system in DQ is gawdly.

[ananus]

-----good
tales of the abyss
persona 3
digital devil saga
kingdom hearts
kingdom hearts ii
disgaea
final fantasy x
megaman x: command mission
disgaea 2

-----average
nocturne
rogue galaxy
shadow hearts: covenant
wild arms 5
final fantasy x-2

-----sucks
unlimited saga
xenosaga ep 1
star ocean 3
tales of legendia
grandia xtreme
final fantasy xii
breath of fire v: dragon quarter
dragon quest viii

[MrAngryFace]

VP2 is pretty fuk amazing

Yeah, it's pretty fuck awesome.  BoF DQ edges it just slightly tho.  The battle system in DQ is gawdly.

Yeah its a close thing.

[Enl]

Man I missed a lot of RPG's last gen. When I pick up Vesperia tomorrow I may check to see if they have Breath of Fire:Dragon Quarter due to the all praise I've been seeing. Last time I saw it I think it was going for about $10.00 used.

[MrAngryFace]

VP2 too ifyou dont have that!

[Enl]

Bought that the moment it was released. Wasn't going to miss out on a game like that!

[MrAngryFace]

thats right!

[Van Cruncheon]

great
--
shadow hearts covenant
smt nocturne
smt digital devil saga 1 & 2
valkyrie profile 2
disgaea
disgaea 2
phantom brave
makai kingdom
persona 3 fes
bof dragon quarter
romancing saga

good
--
shadow hearts from the new world
grandia xtreme
wild arms 3
wild arms 5
wild arms alter code f
tales of the abyss
megaman x command mission
suikoden 5
.hack g.u. 1-3
radiata stories
ephemeral fantasia
soul nomad
ms saga (the gundam rpg)
nightmare of druaga
atelier iris 2
mana-khemia
grim grimoire

meh
--
dragon quest 8
rogue galaxy
odin sphere
wild arms 4
chaos wars
suikoden 3
ffx
ffx-2
unlimited saga
star ocean 3
grandia 3
stella deus
tales of legendia
shadow hearts
front mission 4
atelier iris 3
la pucelle tactics
summoner 2

awful
--
xenosaga 1-3
ff12
kingdom hearts
kingdom hearts 2
growlanser 2 & 3
growlanser 5
atelier iris 1
suikoden 4
MAGNA CARTA -- see, right there at the BOTTOM, fagbags


and a bunch of early ps2 releases i don't care to remember mixed in the meh and awful categories

[drohne]

tier 1- ys 6, smt3, ff12, odin sphere, disgaea, and dragon quarter (because i haven't actually played any of them)

tier 2 - ff10 (because i have played it and omg fuck that game)

[Olivia Wilde Homo]

My roommate has a shitload of PS2 RPGs that I will crack into.

The ones I played, ranked from best to worst (most will be released 2004 or earlier):

Final Fantasy X - The game caught a lot of shit for no reason but I felt it was pretty well done.  I liked the sphere system.  The only downside was Blitzball, which was fuck worthless.

Phantom Brave - I got this because it was cheap and I was impressed.  It was one of the few SRPGs where I wasn't half asleep while playing.  I don't know anything about the story and rarely care about the story for SRPGs.  Before anyone suggests I should have got Disgaea instead, it was at the point for a while when it was out of print and a used copy went for $60.  PB went for $10-20.

Wild Arms 3 - A lot of people will cast stones at me for this but I liked the game.  It didn't do anything innovative, it didn't try to break any new strata of excellence, but it did the job.

Front Mission 4 - I liked FM3 and hoped it would be better.  I was wrong.  The presentation seemed a lot better but the gameplay was botched.  Considering how FM3 was great as it is, all they had to do was use similar gameplay and a new story.

Star Ocean 3 - I barely remember anything from the game because the game was so bland (and this is coming from a guy who liked Wild Arms 3, which is full of blandness) and generic.

Roommate has DQ8, Dragon Quarter, FFXII, Persona 3, and Disgaea I and II.  I'll play them as soon as I get the time to.

[Tucah]

Just gonna pick four in each category.


Awesome (my favorites, in this order):

Valkyrie Profile 2 (VP is one of my favorite games, and this lived up to all my expectations)
Dragon Quest VIII
Suikoden V
Persona 3

Okay:

Kingdom Hearts
Ys The Ark of Napishtim (I'm a big Ys fan, so it could be the fanboy in me thinking this is good).
Tales of the Abyss
Final Fantasy XII (I liked the battle system)

Terrible:

Star Ocean 3
Xenosaga Episode 1
Suikoden IV
Unlimited Saga (Ughh)


I left off things like Nippon Ichi RPGs, which I played for a bit but just couldn't get into. I think I might try Disgaea out again soon though.

[Smooth Groove]

#1:Baldur's Gate
#2:FFX2
#3 (all terrible games) :DQ8, Xenosaga, Suikoden, Kingdom Hearts, Wild Arms

1st two are just there by default because they're the only RPGS that I beat. 

[Enl]

Forgot about Baldur's Gate. Really different from the PC games but mildy fun for a somewhat shallow hack n' slash. Never picked up the sequel even though it seemed to greatly improve over the the first one.

[Himu]

Great:

1. Persona 3 - Excellent battle system, good difficulty, unique premise, addicting gameplay that had me playing 8 hours a day until  I beat it, great story and characters. Still have yet to play Fes.

2. Final Fantasy X - Amazing battle system, the best in the main series. Amazing customization system. Good music. Probably the most likable FF cast next to FFVI and VIII, personally. The battle system really makes it for me. I liked how you could occasionally do cool shit like do a pincer attack against bosses, or use the environment to wreck havok on foes. Things like that made it feel like a next gen rpg to me, and amazed me at the time I played it (when it came out). Unfortunately, aside from VP2, not many jrpgs of the ps2 era evolved what FFX started. The sidequests suck, but honestly, I think the good outweighs the bad.

3. Valkyrie Profile 2 - This is perhaps the best rpg on the system, but it's not my favorite. Gameplay wise, i think it has the best going for it: the best battles, the best dungeon design. It actually makes use being in 3d and makes environment an actual means for strategy rather than just being a part of the background. I'm not a fan of the skill system or how you learn them, but really, there's hard to complain about in VP2. The game is fuck amazing and kicks the original's ass.

4.  Dragon Quest VIII - best world map in a game, excellent sense of adventure, fun battle system, amazing graphics and music, presentation kicks everyone's ass. Great voice acting too! Easily among the best more traditional rpg on the system.

5. Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne - dark story, rpg game for adults, great battle system, hard difficulty, good dungeons, good story, amazing music and atmosphere

6. Suikoden V

7. Breath of Fire V: Dragon Quarter
 
8. Final Fantasy X-2
 
9. Digital Devil Saga 1+2

10. Suikoden III

Good:

Suikoden Tactics
Wild Arms 3
Wild Arms 5
Shadow Hearts
Dark Cloud 2
Dark Cloud
Kingdom Hearts

Meh:

Romancing Saga
Tales of the Abyss
Shadow Hearts 2
Disgaea
La Pucelle
Xenosaga 1 and 2
Suikoden IV
Kingdom Hearts 2

Absymal:

Growlanser 5
Final Fantasy XII

Haven't played yet but want to:

Star Ocean 3
Grandia 3
MS Saga
Grandia X-Treme
Radiata Stories

[Himu]

How is Druga on ps2

The Wizardry game on ps2 looks fuck awesome as well

ps2

[Himu]

FFX:  Gets a nod for not being XII

 

There were other games some good, some bad (P3)

 

[Himu]

It's not an rpg but fuck it.

CULDCEPT.

[Rman]

2. Final Fantasy X - Amazing battle system, the best in the main series. Amazing customization system. Good music. Probably the most likable FF cast next to FFVI and VIII, personally. The battle system really makes it for me. I liked how you could occasionally do cool shit like do a pincer attack against bosses, or use the environment to wreck havok on foes. Things like that made it feel like a next gen rpg to me, and amazed me at the time I played it (when it came out). Unfortunately, aside from VP2, not many jrpgs of the ps2 era evolved what FFX started. The sidequests suck, but honestly, I think the good outweighs the bad.

Himuro

Loved FFX. 

[Himu]

Does FES fix any of the problems with the original?  There were things i liked, but overall i was turned off by alot of the pointless crap.

From what I read, Persona 4 would be more up your alley

[Error2k4]

Great:
Valkyrie Profile 2
Shin Megami Tensei 3: Nocturne
Persona 3
Dragon Quarter
Star Ocean 3

Good:
Dragon Quest VIII
Final Fantasy X
Romancing SaGa
Digital Devil Saga 1/2
Suikoden V
Suikoden III

Blah:
Radiata Stories
Suikoden IV
Tales of The Abyss
Final Fantasy XII

---------------------

Star Ocean 3 - is a weird beast, on one hand the game has a shitload of flaws. but the in-game achievement list and the battle system help the game be my most replayed rpg ever.

Persona 3 - Absolutely loved the crap out of this game. put over 150 hours in it (main game+the answer), loved the characters, story, gameplay everything.

Valkyrie Profile 2 - Definitely tri-Ace best game yet, the battle system, dungeons, graphics, music... all top notch.

Shin Megami Tensei 3: Nocturne - Atlus R&D1's best game. The art direction is so good, music is great, collecting demons is fun... getting the true demon ending was probably one of the best experience I've ever had in gaming.

Dragon Quarter - I enjoyed the previous Breath of Fire games, but this is such a different game... I don't even know if it should be called BoF. it's like they took all of the series traditional aspects and turned it upside down. Ryu is no longer a mute characters, instead it's Nina who is the  mute character, so awesome. I absolutely loved the scenario, too. the battle system was great, although I prefer VP2's slightly more.

[Himu]

Does it get rid of the shitty sim elements almost entirely and let me get to breaking the game with persona combinations?

It doesn't get rid of them, it enhances them. however, the schedule is more tight in P4, the game is far more difficult, and it sounds like P3's original premise has been tightened up.

Honestly, at the end of P3, the social stuff was just there for you so you could have more powerful Persona's. It was like. battle for 2 hours, do a social link so I can make a more powerful persona, make the persona, battle for 2 hours. make more persona's. so it really wasn't a gimmick in the least, it actually tied into the gameplay. However, from what I know, and I could be wrong, P4 follows that way of handling things instead of taking note of P3's more steady, laid back pace.

[CurseoftheGods]

Does it get rid of the shitty sim elements almost entirely and let me get to breaking the game with persona combinations?

You should play The Answer in FES if you don't care about social links. It's just a dungeon crawler, and a challenging one at that.

[tiesto]

Man, I own so many PS2 RPGs its not even funny... but I haven't played a lot of them! Currently working through Wild Arms 3 and enjoying it very much though... PS2 RPGs tended to be much longer than their PS1 and SNES counterparts, with more filler and more gimmicks, that I can honestly say I prefer the earlier gens for RPGs.

My favorites:
-DQ8 (the best game on the system apart from Rez)
-Shadow Hearts: Covenant
-Valkyrie Profile Silmeria
-Breath of Fire Dragon Quarter
-Tales of the Abyss

Good:
-Ys VI
-SMT: Nocturne (what I've played of it)
-SMT: DDS1
-Wild Arms 3 (so far)
-FFX
-Phantom Brave
-Dark Cloud 2

Average:
-Radiata Stories (what I've played of it)
-Atelier Iris
-Shadow Hearts
-Suikoden 3 (what I've played of it)
-Disgaea (what I've played of it)
-Arc the Lad: Twilight of the Spirits

Bad:
-FFX2
-FFXII
-Xenosaga
-Kingdom Hearts

Total disappointment:
-Star Ocean 3
-Odin Sphere

Ones I own but haven't played yet:
-Wild Arms 5
-Suikoden 5
-Ar Tonelico
-Grim Grimoire
-Tales of Legendia
-Xenosaga 2
-Romancing SaGa
-Persona 3/FES
-Shadow Hearts: From The New World
-Growlanser 2/3
-Digital Devil Saga 2
-Metal Saga

Need to get (for collection sake):
-Mana Khemia
-Atelier Iris 2
-Atelier Iris 3
-Suikoden Tactics
-Suikoden 4
-Front Mission 4
-SMT: Devil Summoner
-Stella Deus
-Xenosaga 3
-Disgaea 2
-Soul Nomad
-Makai Kingdom
-MS Saga
-Dark Cloud 1
-FFVII: Dirge of Cerberus
-Kingdom Hearts 2
-Grandia 3
-Grandia Xtreme

I think I'm forgetting a few...

[Himu]

Haha I forgot about Devil Summoner. It's okay.

[Kestastrophe]

Faves are FF 12, Persona 3, and Odin Sphere

[y2kev]

odin sphere?!?!

[Human Snorenado]

So, I see the Shadow Hearts series getting a lot of love in the thread.  I never got a chance to play the games, what order would you distinguished effete fellows rank them in?  Should I bother with the first one, or just begin with Covenant?  How's New World?  HUH?

[Hitler Stole My Potato]

From the games that I own -

Valkyrie Profile 2, Suikoden III (one of the few JRPGs where I actually enjoyed the story), Dragon Quest VIII, Suikoden V, Dragon Quarter, and King's Field: The Ancient City (yeah you read it. I like Kings Field) are definitely on the upper tier for me.  Hard for me to realy rank 'em here.

After that, the next tier would include Shadow Hearts Covenant, FFXII, P3:FES (if I had a fantasy of becoming a Japanese high schooler, I'm sure it'd be higher), Dark Cloud 2, Radiata Stories, Tales of the Abyss, and Shadow Hearts.

And the OMFG what was I thinking when I bought this shit is FFX, Wild Arms 3, Star Ocean 3, Grandia X, Disgaea, Suikoden IV, FFX-2, Kingdom Hearts, Summoner, and Unlimited Saga.

[Human Snorenado]

So, I see the Shadow Hearts series getting a lot of love in the thread.  I never got a chance to play the games, what order would you distinguished effete fellows rank them in?  Should I bother with the first one, or just begin with Covenant?  How's New World?  HUH?

Covenant is the best game in the series, and is one of the few games with legitimately funny moments.

Will it matter if I haven't played the original, or no? 

[Hitler Stole My Potato]

Naw.  You can get by playing Covenant without playing the first.

Now prepare yourself for the gayness.

[Human Snorenado]

Naw.  You can get by playing Covenant without playing the first.

Now prepare yourself for the gayness.

 
 

spoiler (click to show/hide)

[close]

[Himu]

SH:C is like Evilbore: THE GAME.

SH1 isn't bad either.

[tiesto]

So, I see the Shadow Hearts series getting a lot of love in the thread.  I never got a chance to play the games, what order would you distinguished effete fellows rank them in?  Should I bother with the first one, or just begin with Covenant?  How's New World?  HUH?

Covenant is the best game in the series, and is one of the few games with legitimately funny moments.

Will it matter if I haven't played the original, or no? 

I beat Covenant before playing the first game, but I highly recommend playing the first game... it's not that bad a game (pretty average, all things considered) but it is short, easy and could be beaten in 20-25 hours depending on the # of subquests you do. Covenant is an absolute must though, it's my second favorite PS2 RPG.

HSMP: Why the Wild Arms 3 hate? I don't like the whole radar system in use on the world map, and the encounter rate is a bit high, but so far the game is pretty fun, music is awesome, and battles go by quick too.

[Smooth Groove]

From the games that I own -

Valkyrie Profile 2, Suikoden III (one of the few JRPGs where I actually enjoyed the story), Dragon Quest VIII, Suikoden V, Dragon Quarter, and King's Field: The Ancient City (yeah you read it. I like Kings Field) are definitely on the upper tier for me.  Hard for me to realy rank 'em here.

After that, the next tier would include Shadow Hearts Covenant, FFXII, P3:FES (if I had a fantasy of becoming a Japanese high schooler, I'm sure it'd be higher), Dark Cloud 2, Radiata Stories, Tales of the Abyss, and Shadow Hearts.

And the OMFG what was I thinking when I bought this shit is FFX, Wild Arms 3, Star Ocean 3, Grandia X, Disgaea, Suikoden IV, FFX-2, Kingdom Hearts, Summoner, and Unlimited Saga.

Aside from the undeniably gorgeous cutscenes, WTF did you like about FXII?

It has even less gameplay than MGS4.

[Himu]

From the games that I own -

Valkyrie Profile 2, Suikoden III (one of the few JRPGs where I actually enjoyed the story), Dragon Quest VIII, Suikoden V, Dragon Quarter, and King's Field: The Ancient City (yeah you read it. I like Kings Field) are definitely on the upper tier for me.  Hard for me to realy rank 'em here.

After that, the next tier would include Shadow Hearts Covenant, FFXII, P3:FES (if I had a fantasy of becoming a Japanese high schooler, I'm sure it'd be higher), Dark Cloud 2, Radiata Stories, Tales of the Abyss, and Shadow Hearts.

And the OMFG what was I thinking when I bought this shit is FFX, Wild Arms 3, Star Ocean 3, Grandia X, Disgaea, Suikoden IV, FFX-2, Kingdom Hearts, Summoner, and Unlimited Saga.

Aside from the undeniably gorgeous cutscenes, WTF did you like about FXII?

It has even less gameplay than MGS4.

i dunno about that. ff12 is pretty gameplay oriented. it's just the gameplay is GOOD.

[Hitler Stole My Potato]

Aside from the undeniably gorgeous cutscenes, WTF did you like about FXII?

It has even less gameplay than MGS4.

I absolutely loved the first part of the game but then the wheels totally fell off the wagon around the time I got to the sand sea.  From then on it felt like going through a book with every other chapter pulled out of it.  By the end I was thoroughly bored with it all.

The only reason I rank it that high is because of the beginning.

[Hangatýr]

Message Deleted

[Joe Molotov]

Better than the Renaissance
Xenosaga I-III

Awesome
Breath of Fire V
Suikoden III
SMT: Nocturne
SMT: Digital Devil Saga
Shadow Hearts Covenant
Final Fantasy X-2

Good
Suikoden V
Persona 3
Shadow Hearts
Dragon Quest VIII
Wizardy: Tale of the Forsaken Land
At Tonelico

Okay
Ys: The Ark of Napishtim
Final Fantasy X
Final Fantasy XII
Grandia III
Star Ocean: Till the End of Time
Tales of the Abyss
.hack

Blah
Valkyrie Profile 2
Wild Arms 3
Wild Arms Alter Code F
Suikoden IV
Suikoden Tactics
Artelier Iris 1
Mana Khemia
Dark Cloud
Dark Cloud 2
Growlanser II
Growlanser III
Metal Saga
Odin Sphere

Big ol' poopie game
Arc the Lad: Twilight of Spirits
Magna Carta

[MrAngryFace]

Man, what a troll

[Joe Molotov]

I do what I can.

[MrAngryFace]

VP2 and Dark Cloud 2 under Blah is like uhhh

[Joe Molotov]

VP2 and Dark Cloud 2 under Blah is like uhhh

I just couldn't get into the battle system of VP2, and the randomly generated dungeons put me off of both of the Dark Cloud games.

[tiesto]

VP2 and Dark Cloud 2 under Blah is like uhhh

Twilight of the Spirits wasn't that bad either...

[Eric P]

SH:C is like Evilbore: THE GAME.

SH1 isn't bad either.

i HATED the story and translation

[Eric P]

I do what I can.

wait, which arc the lad game were you slagging off?

i liked the one where you played basically the good and bad versions of the same character.

[Hitler Stole My Potato]

HSMP: Why the Wild Arms 3 hate? I don't like the whole radar system in use on the world map, and the encounter rate is a bit high, but so far the game is pretty fun, music is awesome, and battles go by quick too.

It's been awhile since I played it but I remember hating how repetitive it all was, and I generally like old school RPGs. There really didn't seem to be  much else to do besides go from one dungeon to next with a boring town placed in between.  I know I could be talking about 100 other JRPGs with that description but for some reason it felt extra dull in WA3.

All the Wild Arms games seem like wasted potential, imo.  Great setting and atmosphere but not much else.

[demi]

I do what I can.

wait, which arc the lad game were you slagging off?

i liked the one where you played basically the good and bad versions of the same character.

Yeah thats the shit one

[Eric P]

really?

i heard the one that came after that was just atrocious

[demi]

They all went to shit after the cool traditional SRPG ones